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Top court asked to rule on Limbaugh drug files

November 18, 2004|By Items compiled from Tribune news services.

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA — Florida's Supreme Court was asked Wednesday to decide whether prosecutors violated Rush Limbaugh's privacy rights when they seized his medical records without warning during an inquiry into his use of painkillers.

The 4th District Court of Appeal asked the high court to consider whether patients should be notified before their medical records are seized or inspected.

Last month, the appeals court rejected the conservative radio commentator's claim that his privacy rights trumped investigators' power to seize his medical records. Limbaugh appealed, asking the court to rehear his case or refer it to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court could decline to hear the case, which would allow the lower court's decision to stand.

Investigators seized Limbaugh's medical records in November 2003 to see if he engaged in illegal "doctor shopping"--visiting several doctors to obtain duplicate prescriptions. Prosecutors said they obtained search warrants after learning that Limbaugh obtained about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors in six months, at a pharmacy near his Palm Beach mansion.

Limbaugh has not been charged with a crime and the investigation is awaiting the court's decision. He has said he committed no crime.

Limbaugh's lawyer, Roy Black, described the appeals court's decision Wednesday as a victory.